Ten Habits

Jan

Angela’s Note: Diane Corriette is a Personal Growth Coach who found the joys of the internet in 2005 and now supports mothers looking to build an online business. She also provides freelance support as Membership Manager of Blog Success http://www.todiane.com.

Blog Success Mindset Motivator and so much more!

I have learnt a powerful lesson in life, if I hear something more than twice I need to pay attention.

In one week three people mentioned that I sounded just like my blog – or was it that my blog sounded just like me!
I waited for my mastermind group to meet and I asked them what they enjoy most about reading my blog (big assumption thinking they even read it but I got lucky!) – by the end of the discussion I had learnt something very powerful that I would like to share with you.

Blogging isn’t just about writing reviews and promoting products. It isn’t just about new clients and being search engine optimized so Google loves me – while those things are important I understood that my blog had a voice, it had a soul – it came from me and no one could replicate it. In a world wide web of millions of blogs I really was unique.

But enough about me……Let’s talk about you Are you familiar with the voice of your blog? Are you informal and chatty or do you need to remain professional and authoritative? It may take you a while to find your voice but it is a journey worth exploring; here are 5 ways you can help yourself along that journey:

Follow your passion

It is the only way, when you have passion for your blog it comes out in your words. Stick to what you love and finding your voice becomes easier.

Write for your readers

Remember that your readers are real people. Don’t see them as the “target market” but write as if you are talking to a friend.

Know who your readers are

If you have no idea who you are writing for then you will have no idea what to write. Blogging becomes a chore when you can’t pinpoint who it is you want to help.

Always be you

Don’t make up a persona or lie about who you are unless you are ready to keep up that lie for a very long time! It is so much easier just to blog as you.

Never stop searching

If you are not sure about the voice of your blog don’t panic, this is a race with no end. Just keep blogging and you will find it happens quite naturally

When someone hits your blog they are looking for information initially but as they read they are then looking to connect with you. They may want to know your opinion on a particular product, or what you think about the latest celeb gossip – they want to find a person to connect with and as a blogger that is exactly what you can offer. The real you, the voice behind you, the soul that is you that flows out from your blog.

Exercise:

Which blogs do you read and love? What about them do you love? When you can figure that out you will be able to get some idea of the kind of writing style you may enjoy providing for your readers. Always remember your voice may change the more you blog so who you are as a blogger now and who you are 12 months from now may be totally different.

If you are struggling to find your voice leave a comment below and I will take a look at your blog and see if I can help you out.

Read Ten Habits Day Seven to learn about developing trust with your readership community, or learn more about finding your unique voice from Jessica Smith.

Jan

Be PROactive vs Reactive – Stay in Your Circle! Ten Habits Day 5

By AngEngland | Ten Habits

7 Comments

Energy and Effort in your Circle of Concern Keeps your Influence Smaller

Steven Covey’s book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families describes the Circle of Concern and the Circle of Influence. I love this analogy because focusing your energy within the Circle Concern only makes those concerns grow larger without impacting your circle of INFLUENCE in any positive way.

If we subscribe to the idea that your energy and focus creates growth this means our focus should be in the Circle of Influence. That is what you can control. Your reach of influence. The other things are the things that you cannot change.

How does this apply to blogging?
There are a lot of things that you flat do not have control over as a blogger. How exactly Google decides to rank you. Or WHEN Google decides to finally rank you, for example. What are some other things we cannot control, but can certainly be concerned about if we let ourselves.

Cannot force people to read.
Comment.
Participate.
Treat you nicely.
Click an ad.

Energy and Effort Within Your Circle of Influence, Increases Your Influence!

What can you control? Plenty! You CAN control yourself. You can write more articles. Ask for guest post spots on influential blogs. Connect with others in your field via Twitter, Facebook and blog comments. Do keyword research to make sure relevant ads appear with your articles. Write open-ended blogs with questions to encourage feedback from others. All of these things you CAN control.

Proactive Intention and Action Creates Positive Results

As you focus your energy and attention on these things that you do have control over, you will begin to see the other things you thought you were worried about fall into place. Guest posts and incoming links add up and Google increases your page rank. Engaging your community more frequently and regularly means that they leave comments more often. Thinking about your content means higher quality content and increased revenue.

But not because you focused on the uncontrollable. These things happen because you focused on the controllable. What you directly had influence over. As a result, that influence increased. Your confidence increases. Your reach increases. Because your focus was realistic all this time, instead of wasted on what you couldn’t change yourself.

What Jaeli Taught me About Acting with Proactive Intention

I saw this in action a few months ago when Baby Jaeli needed help. If you didn’t hear the story you can catch a little bit of it on the Jaeli page of this website. Basically, the level of help that she needed was way beyond what I could do by myself. What any one of us could have done by ourselves. I had two choices – 1) Sit and moan and cry about how horrible the situation was or 2) Do WHAT I COULD. And _I_ could do was little more than put the information up on my blog and tweet it out to my friends.

And you know what happened? Each of them, acting within their Circle of Influence, did what THEY could do. They retweeted. Blogged. Emailed reporters. Hosted MomTV shows w/the story featured. Starting Facebook Cause Pages and invited all their friends. And TOGETHER those individual circles of influences added up to a life-changing miracle of generosity for Jaeli and her family.

Assignment -

What things have you been concerned about when it comes to your blogging and writing? List them out. List them ALL out.
Now look over your list and circle anything that is not within your circle of influence. See if there is a way to rework that into a proactive comment.

In other words, if you have on your list “I’m worried about increasing my traffic“, I want you to circle that off your list and write beside it “I will apply SEO basics to my new posts this week” or “I will share my new posts via Twitter and Facebook every time I publish something new”. If you feel comfortable doing so, I’d love to see what your list looks like!

Jan

Learn the Basics of SEO – Ten Habits Day 4

By AngEngland | Ten Habits

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Angela’s Note: Today’s post is a basic introduction to search engine optimization from Kelby Carr, @Typeamom, the mastermind behind the Type-A-Mom Network of websites. She’s about to release a book on using SEO in your blogging so this is a great place to start for beginners. SEO may not SEEM important, but so much of our blogging plans hinge on having good rankings and traffic it is vital to know the very basics at least.

SEO is a term that can sound so geeky it scares bloggers, but the basics of search engine optimization are quite simple. You don’t have to sell your soul to the Google gods to get traffic, either. It is possible to write for humans and search engines, and to do both well.

Think of Your Own Search Habits

First, think about your own search habits. What do you type in when you are seeking content? This very basic premise can be the core of your basic SEO toolbox. If you are tempted to use a clever, witty, abstract title, just ask yourself: What Would I Search?

Here are three basic SEO steps:

SEO is not a dirty word, it's just a way for blogs to get noticed. Photo by Ivan Petrov

1. Start with the right words for SEO. You will want to find the perfect keyword phrase to both capture the essence of your post and that people actually search. This is called a keyword phrase. There are a couple of great free tools to research the best keyword phrase: the Google Adwords Keyword Tool and Wordtracker. Look for phrases that get decent search traffic, but not tons of searches since that will be very competitive. Before each post, make it a habit to do research first. It truly only takes five minutes for some basic keyword searches.

2. Use your words for SEO. Once you’ve found your keyword phrase, use it in the title, the permalink URL for the post, the first paragraph, in headers, throughout your post, as the file names for images, as the text for outgoing links, essentially anywhere you can work it in without compromising the quality of the post.

3. Check your SEO results. SEO is not an exact science. After you’ve done some posts with optimization in mind, monitor the results. Allow some time for search engines to spider your site, then examine your stats program (Google Analytics is a nice free one). Look at which keywords are driving traffic to your blog. See if the phrases you targeted are driving traffic. Look at traffic sources to see if search engines like Google are sending more traffic. If it isn’t working, tinker. You could try less competitive keywords, for example. Consider SEO an ongoing process.

It’s as simple as that. There is obviously a lot more to SEO, but these three basics are a great way to start. It’s less a complete overhaul of the way you blog, and more a shift in thinking. I like to say it’s what a writer would do anytime switching to a new medium. Writing styles are adapted for newspapers, books, TV, radio and TV. The web is no different.

Angela’s Challenge:

Look back over the last four posts on your blog. What three words would you type into Google to find each of those posts? Are those three words included in the title and/or subheadings? If not – you know that you are the type to needs to pay closer attention to the search engine side of your writing. If so – Great!

Now look over the posts with a close eye. Do they read well? Are they easy to read and have a nice flow to them? If they sound a little stuffy and the keywords are smooshed into the post awkwardly, then you know you are the type that needs to pay closer attention to the HUMAN side of your writing.

Having trouble? Come back and leave the titles of the last four posts on your blog. We should be readily able to tell what the post is about based on your titles.

Jan

Have a PLAN to Achieve Blogging Success – Ten Habits Day 3

By AngEngland | Ten Habits

25 Comments

Charting your course makes it more likely to achieve your goals. Photo by sanja gjenero

For day three of our #10Habits adventure we are going to look at the importance of having a PLAN. I personally hate to stop with just a nebulously defined ”goal”. Unless we’re talking about my son’s soccer game, though there were precious few of those for us this season. *laughing*

Nope. We are talking about having a PLAN. As Leslie reminded us yesterday, Inspired Goals call for Specific Plans! See – it’s really common to hear people say “I hope my blog…” or “Gee, I wish my articles…” and it’s sad to me to hear.

The truth is something I’ve been saying for nearly three years now - ”Wishes will blow away in the wind of change. Hopes and dreams are directionless. Goals have both – a set direction and time.” ~ Angela England

P = Precise – Have a Specific Destination in Mind

Like an airplane heading to another airport, there is a very precise target he has in mind. He files a precise flight plan with an altitude, a line he plans to travel and a VERY precise target. Thank goodness. Really – would you want to fly with a pilot who said, “Oh when I feel like landing the plane I’ll go ahead and put ‘er down.”

For writers, each precise target is very different depending on your desires. For one it might be “I want to write 4 new ebooks this year.” while for another it might be as simple as “I’d like to increase the community with my readers by seeing 10% increase in comments on my blog posts”. Each person may have a different goal – but it should still be precise.

L = Lasting – Over a Period of Time

Your steps to success should have a period of time. Again with the plane analogy – if there was no travel time we wouldn’t get on the plane in the first place. So if you goal is to increase the number of comments per blog post by 10%, WHEN do you want that to happen by? When will those ebooks be finished? How many new articles will you post per month? Per week?

A = Arrival Point – Where are you Heading Anyway?

Think long-term. If you are planning to write three blog posts per week, how many is that over the course of the year? Why is this ultimate arrival point necessary? Because we are fickle. Life is fickle. And uncontrollable.

It’s easy to say “I am going to write three blog posts each week”. Then what happens when my kids get the chicken pox. Or the stomach bug. Or we move. Or the power goes out. I’ve missed a week’s worth of posts and suddenly – what?

Has my plane fallen out of the sky? No! I’m merely blown off course a little bit. My flight plan is no longer following it’s precise goal. However, my arrival target can still be met. I simply readjust. I post a little more often for my blog posts to catch up and get back on track.

N = Natural – What is the Realistic Next Step for YOU?

Maybe your blog is just starting out? Would it make sense for your arrival point to be “Make $1,000 per month by February, with one-million readers per month.” Um….probably not. Likewise, if I’m a stay-at-home mom of three children, with another due in April, it isn’t realistic for me to say “I am going to write three articles per day at Suite101 and triple my article total there”. That simply isn’t the appropriate next-step for me given the level of my responsibilities apart from Suite101.

Whatever plan we make, it should include the natural next step.

Assignment:

What is the precise, natural next step for you? Does that plan include a time limit? Looking back over the inspired goals you created yesterday, do these plans have the natural, logical steps needed to achieve those goals?

Jan

Create Inspired Goals – Ten Habits Day 2

By AngEngland | Ten Habits

15 Comments

Leslie Gail, Author and Life Coach

Angela’s Note – Today’s post is a guest post from @gr8lifecoach Leslie Gail. If you’re not yet following this brilliant life coach and author of Life Simplified: A weekly guide to creating the life you love!, you are missing out.

Goals are great if they are the right goals and if you are prepared on how to achieve them. This time of year millions of people are writing down resolutions, even though only a small fraction of those people will succeed. I have learned over the years the secret formula to setting and achieving goals in your life. As a lifestyle expert, author of the book Life Simplified-A weekly guide to achieving a life you love, and MomTV webshow host my life revolves around helping others create their best life. And a critical piece of this is clarifying goals and then creating a road map to achieve them. I am going to offer some simple and practical tools to get you started in 2010.

Create goals you want to achieve

Year after year people write down the same goals. Most goals are ones you think you should achieve instead of the goals you really want to achieve. If you “think” you should lose weight, or if you “think” you should quit smoking, or if you “think” you should start meditating, you are simply setting yourself up to fail. Make sure you come up with goals that inspire you! Come up with goals that are motivating and positive and you will improve your chances of achieving them. Throw away a goal if you have had it year after year without succeeding.

Write them down and share it with others

One surefire way to achieve your goals this year is to write them down and share them with others. Get out a journal and write down specifically what you would like to achieve this year. Don’t be vague here. Writing down losing weight is too general and hard to achieve. Be as specific as possible. Use the SMART tool- Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time sensitive. By sharing your goals with others, you are adding the accountability factor. Others will help you stay on track.

Detail the plan

People often fail because of this missing element. If you want to drive from Los Angeles to New York, you need a road map to get you there. The same applies to your goals. You need a specifically laid out map that details how to get from where you are today to where you ultimately want to go. Do your research and take the time to complete this step. You will be much more prepared to venture out there this time around. If you need a little help with this step you can contact me for guidance at leslie@newlifefocus.com

Exercises to get started on right now: Buy a journal and write down the goals you truly want to embark on. Share this goal with friends and/or family. Write down specifically what you are going to do daily/weekly/monthly to get you there. Good luck!!

Angela’s Note – Tomorrow we are going to take Leslie’s mention of creating specific plans to the next level and break down how to do that. Meanwhile, please do the suggested action step – what are your goals? Are they YOUR goals? Inspired just for you?

Jan

Ten Habits Day One – First Habit Networking – Speak Up!

By AngEngland | Ten Habits

42 Comments

OK, so I realize that in the original post I wrote up about the ten habits, I had this as part of the tenth habit. But I wanted to touch on this first since we’re doing an interactive series. Speak up!

Make Introductions for Others

Sometimes this means being willing to introduce two different people in your network to each other. Something I actually did twice just today. Two mothers with a common medical interest and cause so I said, “Hey! Have you met @SoAndSo on Twitter yet? She’s dealing with this exact issue right now.” In another case it was two writers, one with an opportunity she couldn’t do alone, and another with fantastic qualifications to help! An email introduction meant that both parties knew who the other was and were able to connect to work on mutually beneficial projects I wasn’t personally the best suited to take on.

Are you speaking up? or staying silent? Is this the image you present to your community? Photo by StillSearc

Leave Comments and Introduce Yourself

If you’ve never left a comment on someone’s blog before, you should really consider doing so. A comment says, ” I see you. I am paying attention. I find you of value.” A comment can be a great way to introduce yourself to someone new you hadn’t previously connected with.

Join in the Conversation

Over one hundred people read my Ten Habits of Successful Blogging post the first day. Several commented to me privately via Twitter DM or email but relatively few left a public comment. Sometimes one of the scariest things, especially for those who are just starting out and don’t feel “qualified to contribute” is to speak up and put themselves out there. It can be very tough unless you think of it as just sharing your opinion vs contributing an expert tip. Everyone has an opinion. And yours is every bit as valid as mine, right? So don’t be afraid to share.

So then – any guesses what today’s “assignment” is?

1.Leave a comment below. Be sure to put your blog website in the link and include your Twitter ID in the comment field. Take a second to introduce yourself, your blog, and share what you hope to gain from this series.

2. Look for ways to introduce people in your community who may not know each other, but should.

3. Take the time to click through onto one of the other participants blog/website and check out some of their posts. When something catches your attention, leave a comment offering an opinion, thought, different point of view or expanding on what was said.

And of course – if you have an opinion about speaking up, leaving comments and sharing your thoughts on others’ blogs I’d love to hear it below! Or blog about it on your site and link back here – just let me know so I can come and comment! Lol!

Jan

Ready to Work Through Ten Habits With Me?

By AngEngland | Ten Habits

35 Comments

So I’ve had some interesting tweets, DM’s, emails and comments about the Ten Habits of Successful Blogging post. I had planned to expand the list and devote at least one upcoming post per habit but I’d love to make it more interactive. Similar to what Jessisa did in her 15 Days of Marketing. It’ll be so much fun, don’t you think?

So what does it mean for us?

We’ll start #10habits on January 5th so between now and then let’s invite all of our community to participate. Leave a comment here letting us know that you’re “in” and be sure you’re subscribed to the email newsletter on the right or that you check in each day to see what we’re working on.

What will I do?

I will post once a day about one of the ten blogging habits. We may choose to take more than one day per habit to cover it totally depending on what we feel we need. I will also bring in guests who have something amazing to contribute on the subject (email me or DM me on Twitter @AngEngland if you have an idea or want to contribute to one of the habits!). I love hearing from new people that I might not otherwise have the chance to learn from.

What will YOU do?

Read. Comment. Learn. Share. Hopefully we will make it a point to visit others from the group who leave comments and contribute to the daily assignments, questions and challenges. My goal would be for each of you to find new friends, colleagues and expand your community. As well as being challenged and stretched in your own personal writing and websites.

So are you in? Leave a comment and let me know! Or don’t – if you prefer to just lurk. Or tweet something like “Joining #10habits of blogging success! http://bit.ly/10habits with @AngEngland” I truly believe that the most benefit will be gained by those who are actively participating.

We will start with the first post on January 5th so invite your own community to join in the fun with us! Watch Twitter for the #10habits hashtag or check back each day to see the latest post. They are set to publish at 8 am each morning.

I cannot wait to hear what wisdom, heart and tips you all have to share with eachother!

Jan

Ten Habits of Successful Blogging

By AngEngland | Ten Habits

23 Comments

Are you Having Success With Your Blog? Photo by Ivan Petrov

These are in no particular order. But I’d love to hear your thoughts on which of the ten habits you feel is the most important. Did I leave one out? Let me know in the comments below!

1. Learn the Basics of Good SEO – While SEO can become obsessive in it’s own right, and is definitely taken to extremes by some “elitists”, it is vital for anyone putting words out on the web and expecting readers to find them, to know Search Engine Optimization basics.

More: Learn the Basics of SEO (by Kelby Carr)

2. Be PROactive - You cannot control others. You cannot make them leave you nice comments. You cannot make someone take an action step you would like them to take. REacting is never the way to success. You must control the part that you can control – YOU.

More: Proactive vs Reactive – Your Circle of Influence

3. Have a plan. Know where you are heading. What are your goals? You need to know. They must be actionable, measurable steps. “Wishes will blow away in the wind of change. Dreams are directionless. Goals have both – set direction and time.” ~ Angela England

More: Create Inspired Goals (by Leslie Gail)

Have a P.L.A.N. to Achieve Blogging Success

4. Be True! John Maxwell says that “trust is the foundation for leadership” and I believe this holds true whether we are talking about integrity as a writer, creating a platform for marketing a book or product, and representing a client to those around you. Be. True.

More: Do you Have T.R.U.S.T?

True to YOU (by Jessica Smith)

5. Be Yourself - What makes your blog different from any of the millions of other blogs out there? Nothing at all except for YOU. If people only wanted information they would read the encyclopedia. People want to connect with other people. Be. You.

More: Inject a voice into your blog – Yours! (by Diane Corriette)

6. Focus Your Efforts – This is the pot calling the kettle black here, but the truth is you cannot be all things to all people at all times. Delegate. Write ahead. Plan a series instead of single, stand-alone pieces. Let go.

More: Focus Your Efforts (by Laurie Pawlik-Kienlin)

Eliminate When Needed and Work Smarter!

Seven Day PR Focus (by John Sternal)

7. Overcome Obstacles – Overcoming obstacles means that not only do you have a clear goal in mind, but you are willing to fight to achieve that goal. Like a wide-reciever in a football game, obstacles will try to stop your forward momentum and prevent you from reaching your goals. Are you willing to put forth the effort to overcome them?

More: Overcome Obstacles – Learning from Football

Overcome by Increasing Education (by Susan Payton)

8. Understand the Slight Edge Principle - The difference between success and failure is usually minuscule. Slight. A razor’s edge. Often the mundane, ordinary tasks are the ones that lead to success. Which side of the line are you on?

More: The ‘Slight Edge’ for Bloggers

9. Remember Your Value – You have worth. Your time has value. Your words are not cheap. Ask any massage therapist what an hour of their time is worth. Query your local photographer about their sitting fees. Are you worth less because you work from home? Hardly! Raise your chin up now; remember your value.

More: Remember Your Value (by Julie Roads)

Don't be Afraid to Reach Out to Others - Photo by Ivan Petrov

10. Speak-up and Network- The internet is a difficult place to be a wallflower. It is much easier when you make friends, reach out, speak-up and find those around you who are influential or knowledgeable in your field. Have you been reading a certain blog for weeks now but never contributed? Speak up! Leave a comment! Introduce yourself and say hello.

More: Networking – Speak up!

Wilderness Wallflowers or Drive-By Bloggers (by Danny Brown)

Perhaps we can explore more of each of these 10 habits in depth later but these highlights should be plenty of food-for-thought as you evaluate the past year, and plan for the coming year. What is a habit you’ve found important to your success? Which of these habits is the one you need to work on most?

More: Grocery Grump or Glory – Wrapping it up!